Texas sues Biden admin for requiring abortions in medical emergencies ????Texas https://t.co/mnYCeOU8jO
— ???????????? (@lezleedee2) July 14, 2022
… About a thousand future OB-GYNs would have had to travel to Texas in the fall to take their board certification exam, which advocates worried could increase their risk of being prosecuted under the state’s strict anti-abortion law.
The board, which is based in Texas, requires future OB-GYNs to pass written and oral exams. It moved these exams online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but had planned to host them in person again starting in October.
The legal landscape for OB-GYNs has changed vastly since the exam was last held in person, with Texas adopting one of the most stringent anti-abortion laws in the US prior to the fall of Roe v. Wade.
In order to prioritize the “safety and well-being of candidates, examiners, and our staff,” the board switched to remote delivery in light of the uncertainties ahead in the next few months with the Covid-19 pandemic and the SCOTUS opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, according to an email sent to test-takers.
More than 500 OB-GYNs previously wrote a letter to the board asking for it to be moved online…
Texas’ SB8 law bans abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy, and emboldens private citizens to report those who perform abortions, aid and abet them, or plan on aiding and abetting them.
The law obviously applies to OB-GYNs in Texas, but it could also potentially be used to prosecute out-of-state doctors who perform abortions on Texas residents in states where abortions are legal, said Cary Franklin, professor at UCLA School of Law and faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy.
“Given how many people are leaving Texas to get an abortion in other places, the reach of SB8 potentially becomes very large,” Franklin said.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires trainees to “have experience with abortion and its complications,” the letter said. “Due to the ‘aid and abet’ clause included in SB8, we may be targeted for legal or political retribution.”…
Earlier… pandering, or just trying to keep all the plates spinning as he dodges jail?
Here is the clip, per @American_Bridge: “The Supreme Court has stepped into issues that… were legislative issues. This is one of those issues.”pic.twitter.com/UvPv7b5CHg
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) June 28, 2022
businesses should probably start acting like the state governments of TX and FL have declared war on them https://t.co/X44OAbW5aI
— post malone ergo propter malone (@PropterMalone) July 1, 2022
Of course, he’d say he’s just honestly representing his particular constituents…
WaterGirl
Anne Laurie, I hope you will forgive me for stepping on your post – the Ukraine auction post took much longer to put together than I expected and I want people to have advance notice of the auction & raffle that starts at noon tomorrow.
I don’t think it will be much competition for your post, but it’s still a stomp, which I don’t think i have ever done before.
Anne Laurie
@WaterGirl: No problem, I completely agree with your reasoning!
japa21
@WaterGirl: Meanie. Not really.
WaterGirl
I think these red states have all lost the plot. it’s nuts. Some entity needs to smack them down hard, but I don’t know who or what could possibly do that.
What a crazy time.
Suzanne
Texas is a shithole country.
Mallard Filmore
We finally have those Death Panels that Sarah Palin was so worried about in 2009. And no surprise, these panels are made up of Republican politicians.
Mr. Bemused Senior
I bet the Jackals will have no problem scrolling down.
mali muso
Anyone who wants to criticize me for trying to relocate and get my daughter out of the country, I rest my case. This stuff is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
japa21
@WaterGirl:
Unfortunately, we have a Supreme Court who will probably agree with Paxton and the rest. All this talk about codifying Roe. Does anybody really believe this court would let that stand?
Dan B
@mali muso: There are gay people inquiring about moving to a safer country than the US. I’ve considered it except that Seattle is unlikely to allow persecution of LGBTQIA people. Seattle police are a wild card since the head of the union is a monster
There is a feeling that Marriage Equality and Lawrence will be “left to State legislatures”.
Chetan Murthy
@Mallard Filmore: Wasn’t that Betsy McCaughey ? I thought I saw her on Jon Stewart’s TDS, banging on about them, lying on nationwide teevee.
HumboldtBlue
How does one self own themselves this hard?
Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson, ladies, please keep your panties on.
@Dan B:
I saw a rather sobering stat a few days ago: Seattle Police had the highest number of active duty officers attend the Jan. 6 insurrection.
zhena gogolia
@Chetan Murthy: Palin popularized it.
Shalimar
@japa21: I don’t think any major legislation Democrats pass is going to survive much more than a year before the Supreme Court strikes it down, especially not on abortion. They already got rid of the Civil Rights Act and McCain/Feingold back when they only had 5 votes.
Mallard Filmore
@Chetan Murthy: I went by this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_panel
mali muso
@Dan B: Yes, I’ve seen a fair bit of chat on the various Portugal relocation groups that I’m now frequenting from LGBTQ families as well. These are dark days.
PaulB
Only one thing that I can think of, which, alas, is really unlikely: massive election losses, possibly to the extent of turning a red state purple or even blue. They’re pandering to their base for power; if their base isn’t enough to give them that power, almost all of them will change their tune.
They are power-hungry first, everything else second.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Shalimar: I think Josh Marshall’s point is well taken: force the Supreme Court to act and demonstrate that it’s corrupt.
Josie
Rochelle Garza is a very capable, dedicated young attorney running against Ken Paxton for attorney general of Texas. She could use some help if you feel like throwing a few dollars her way.
https://www.rochellegarzafortexas.com/
SpaceUnit
This is psychopathic.
I hope November is a buzzsaw for these assholes.
brendancalling
We’re heading for civil war.
It’s gonna be ugly.
Geminid
@Josie: Ms. Garza is also the only woman and only Hispanic running for one of Texas’s top three posts. This should help the Democratic ticket.
prostratedragon
TCM notices: At 9E/8C, Dangerous Liasons, or, courtly dancing in several easy lessons. At 12:15E/11:15C, Scarlet Street, or, early 20th century painting in several easy lessons.
Josie
@Geminid: I am hoping that this is the case.
ETA: The problem is that Texas is a large and expensive media market, so it takes a lot of money to run for statewide office here. Incumbency is a big advantage.
catclub
@WaterGirl:
The last time, the US Army did the smacking. Maybe this time it should smack them if they don’t leave.
hells littlest angel
@HumboldtBlue: Women don’t enjoy sex with him. Maybe it’s the lobster costume he insists on wearing.
Dan B
@mali muso: States like Texas could go nuts with arrests for sodomy and grooming as a reaction to years of pent up hatred.
Tony G
It’s time for any organization/company/person who is able to do so to get the hell out of Texas and all of the other forced-birth states. The governments of these states have chosen to be pariahs; let them be treated as such. I understand, and sympathize, that family obligations and other considerations make it difficult for people to leave a state, so the shunning of these places will not be immediate or dramatic. But I can certainly envision a lot of situations in which young people who are choosing a college or an employer will shun these horrible places. If they want to live in the Bronze Age then let them do so.
Suzanne
@hells littlest angel: Peterson has said he’s on an all-meat (manly!} diet. I’m sure he smells terrible. He looks bad. He should eat some vegetables. I can’t imagine what women don’t see in him.
HumboldtBlue
Fox News had a headline about Major, Biden’s dog, and how he over eight straight days he bit a Secret Service agent.
Major is now on Oprah’s couch, explaining why.
Tony G
@catclub: One of the great mistakes — a deliberate mistake — in U.S. history was that U.S. Army occupation of the treasonous slave states was not harsh enough and didn’t last long enough. We’re still paying the price for that.
West of the Rockies
@HumboldtBlue:
Those two smug pinheads brazenly declare their own sexual ineptitude… I pity any women in their lives.
James E Powell
@Josie:
A state filled with ignorant, hateful bigots is also a big Republican advantage.
Dan B
@West of the Rockies: I pity any living thing in their vicinity.
HumboldtBlue
@hells littlest angel:
It’s either that or he’s an absolute asshole fuckwad that no one wants to be around.
@West of the Rockies:
It’s almost Three Stooges like.
Doink, slap, pinch, poke.
Geminid
@Josie: At least Mr. O’Rourke is hauling in the bucks. Hopefully the people he can bring out will also vote for Ms. Garza. Similarly, in Florida Val Demings may help pull the Democrat running for Governor over the line.
I think El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar will take time to campaign for the statewide ticket. Have you read Ms. Escobar’s Wikipedia biography? It tells a very interesting story about the successful effort by El Paso activists Veronica Escobar, Beto O’Rourke, Steven Gomez, and Susie Bird to reshape El Paso politics. The four all went on to win public office. They were known locally as “the Progressives.”
Urza
All these religious people think that everyone will hate the gays, and their followers might. But those sodomy laws are also against consensual anal and oral sex between men and women, even while married. Their cult won’t appreciate that even a little.
Ksmiami
@brendancalling: chemicals, drones, telecom… lots of ways to fight.
Dan B
@Urza: Some of the laws have been “updated” to apply only to same sex relations. I guess some of the wackos noticed.
Geminid
@James E Powell: Texas can’t be but so full of ignorant bigots if only 52% of Texans voted for Trump last time.
Urza
@Dan B: Ok, but now there’s a case for it being prejudicial against a minority. If this court cares. Even if it doesn’t, the anal portion at least will get updated back to cover everyone when they run out of other talibangelical ideas.
Urban Suburbanite
@HumboldtBlue: And thanks to the union, most of them are still employed with SPD.
West of the Rockies
@Dan B:
I wonder if Peterson tried sex with a man, if he’d discuss “the myth of the male orgasm” because his partner clearly only tolerated him
He looks rigid, prim, joyless, and ungenerous… can’t imagine he’d be fun in bed.
Sister Golden Bear
@Dan B: I’d like to think California is also safer for LGBTQ people, but I confess I’ve dust off the “get the hell out” plans I’d started looking at in 2016.
Given the Christo-fascists are already talking about passing a national abortion ban, it’s pretty much a given that, if they have a chance, they’ll be passing nationwide laws targeting LGBQ, and especially trans, people. At what point do they decide my passport is invalid unless its got the name and sex listed on my original birth certificate, and that my revised birth certificate is invalid.
Dan B
@West of the Rockies: Now I need brain bleach!
Sister Golden Bear
@Dan B:
My employer has offices in Texas. If I’m ever asked to travel there, I’m gonna has to have a serious discussion with my manager that as a trans woman I don’t feel safe traveling there. It would all to be easy for me to be arrested for using the “wrong” bathroom. And yes, I fully expect they’ll be reviving the bathroom bills, except this time they’ll make it a sex crime, so that trans people get saddled with a life-long sexual predator conviction record.
Dan B
@Sister Golden Bear: Laws against trans people and making it possible for individuals to sue pharmacies and physicians who provide drugs and care would be very likely. I need to renew my passport. It’s two+ hours drive to Canada but no passport equals no entry
A criminal record for sex is terrible. There are always neighbors who believe the police and see no problems with the judiciary.
James E Powell
@Geminid:
Hyperbole.
Sister Golden Bear
@Dan B:
They’ve already passed laws preventing trans kids from getting healthcare, so abortion bounty hunter-style laws (for all trans people) seem pretty likely.
Plus, we’ve already had pharmacists refusing to provide trans people with hormones because they claimed it violates their religious beliefs.
Dan B
@Sister Golden Bear: There are many pastors who violate my religious beliefs (morality).
Geminid
@James E Powell: Ah. I get it now
How are those three southern California Congressional races you mentioned the other day going? Are they districts Democrats flipped in 2018 that got retaken by Republicans in 2020?
Martin
If Texas wants to burn their state down, who am I to say no. Sounds like a lot of jobs moving to blue states.
My guess is that part of the GOP plan to keep Texas from turning blue is to make the state so horrible for liberals to live in, and, honestly, that might work. They’ve got their districts until the 2030 census, so they maintain power for at least that long.
HumboldtBlue
@Urban Suburbanite:
Sadly, yeah.
The Oracle of Solace
@mali muso: Portugal is at the top of our list for relocation, too.
Geminid
@Martin: Texas Republicans can hope to remain in power that long, but gerrymanders don’t neccesarily withstand political shift and demographic change. In 2018, Texas Republicans lost a House seat outside Houston and one outside Dallas that they thought would stay Republican when they drew their map in 2011. They had close calls in three others. That same year Democrats in Virginia picked up three seats on a Republican map, and in Georgia they picked up one. Another seat there fell in 2020. Georgia Republicans will take one of those seats back this time around, but they could not safely gerrymander both out of Democratic hands.
A similar dynamic worked in Virginia’s state legislative districts during the the latter half of the last decade.
A very striking feature of the blue wave of 2018 was how it affected so many different states, but in similar suburban districts. The forty seats Democrats picked up incuded two in suburban districts in New Jersey, two or three in Pennsylvania, three in Virginia, two in Michigan, one each in Georgia and Kansas, two in Texas, and I believe six in Southern California.
Thats why I’m interested in those three LA area Republican districts that could be in play. Besides the immediate need for Democrats to flip enough seats to make up for possible losses elsewhere, those races may be indicators of what will happen in states like Texas in two or three cycles.
HumboldtBlue
@The Oracle of Solace:
Portugal is on fire too.
Soprano2
@Geminid: I enjoy reading your posts about various races. It sounds like you do a lot of research about them. Did you see that a man named John Wood is trying to get on the MO ballot for Senate as an independent? That could help the Dems if Greitens wins the primary.
On another note, my weather app is showing insanely high temps for next week, including one day with a high of 106º! It’s starting to remind me of 2012, when we had a bad drought.
Geminid
@Soprano2: The 2018 midterms was the first time I ever used the internet to research politics intensively. That was a fascinating year. I familiarized myself with some of the Democrats running in red districts like Sharice Davids, Mikie Sherrill, Lauren Underwood, and Xochitl Torres-Small. And the three Virginia Democrats who flipped seats that year: Jennifer Wexton, Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria.
Then after the election, I researched the ones I hadn’t before. That’s why I talk up the Democrats’ “talented House Class of 2018.” It really is a impressive bunch, both those who flipped seats and those like Veronica Escobar and Joe Neguse who came from already blue districts.
danielx
@HumboldtBlue:
The lack of self awareness is truly awe-inspiring.
Geminid
@Soprano2: I did catch a little bit about the independent. I was worried at first, but it sounds like he’s a Republican who is gunning for Greitens. Kind of like the Pennsylvania “Republicans for Shapiro” are determined to keep Mastriano out of power.
Soprano2
@Geminid: Yes, John Danforth is doing commercials for him. Danforth never supported Trump.
trnc
Has the OB/Gyn cert board considered moving to another state? Their entire profession is clearly not wanted in Tx.
Geminid
@Soprano2: John Danforth and Trudy Busch Valentine are mirror images in a way. Thirty years ago Valentine might have run as a Republican, but now the Danforths are marginalized by the radicals in the Republican party.
I noticed that Valentine is winning endorsements from a lot of Missouri Teamsters locals and other union outfits. That primary race between her and Lucas Kunce interests me. I wonder if there will be any debates. I’m not sure if they have any big policy differences, but they sure have different personal backgrounds! They both look like good candidates, though, just in different ways.
Glen Tomkins
It’s only a frivolous lawsuit if at least five of the six Federalist Society stooges on the highest court in the land think it’s frivolous. We have plenty of evidence that they have different ideas about frivolity than any court that has preceded them.